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The differences between claim specialists and senior claims examiners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a claim specialist and a senior claims examiner. Additionally, a senior claims examiner has an average salary of $50,962, which is higher than the $43,164 average annual salary of a claim specialist.
The top three skills for a claim specialist include customer service, litigation and patients. The most important skills for a senior claims examiner are customer service, litigation, and property damage.
| Claim Specialist | Senior Claims Examiner | |
| Yearly salary | $43,164 | $50,962 |
| Hourly rate | $20.75 | $24.50 |
| Growth rate | -6% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 29,505 | 10,931 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A claims specialist is responsible for processing insurance claims, reviewing insurance coverage, and analyzing claims cases. Claims specialists' duties include negotiating claims settlements, validating claims to prevent fraud, creating court testimonies as needed, developing claim review plans, and checking necessary documents and related resolve claims. A claims specialist must have strong analytical and critical-thinking skills to authorize claim payment and investigate complex and unusual claims. Claims specialists should also have extensive knowledge of the insurance processes to handle various cases, following legal policies and regulatory procedures.
Senior claims examiners review, assess, and process the insurance claims of their clients. The examiners provide recommendations for claims-related resolution. It is their responsibility to examine and authorize the investigation of insurance claims as conducted by insurance adjusters. They check the claims and the insurance policies to ensure that all the information is right. During the settlement, they are expected to be careful in keeping the records with details of the process.
Claim specialists and senior claims examiners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Claim Specialist | Senior Claims Examiner | |
| Average salary | $43,164 | $50,962 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $67,000 | Between $34,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, NJ | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | W. R. Berkley | W. R. Berkley |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a claim specialist and a senior claims examiner in terms of educational background:
| Claim Specialist | Senior Claims Examiner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between claim specialists' and senior claims examiners' demographics:
| Claim Specialist | Senior Claims Examiner | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.0% Female, 69.0% | Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 5.2% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |